Tosoh Corporation has announced the development of a gallium nitride (GaN) sputtering target. Manufacturing of this new product has started at Tosoh Speciality Materials Corporation, a Tosoh subsidiary based in Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture.

GaN is a thin film semiconductor material used in LED lighting and miniature rapid charger components. It is known for its lower energy loss compared with other materials. As such, energy-efficient GaN thin films are poised for increased adoption in power semiconductors for data centers and in micro-LEDs for wearable displays.

GaN thin films for semiconductors, however, are primarily produced using chemical vapor deposition (CVD), which requires expensive equipment and materials.2 Tosoh’s new GaN sputtering target employs the more cost-effective sputtering method.

Tosoh has employed its original synthesis and sintering technique to develop a high-purity material from which GaN thin films of a crystallinity comparable to those made by CVD and, in turn, its GaN sputtering target can be produced. That sputtering target is being evaluated by device manufacturers and has also garnered interest from academic researchers.

The transition from the CVD to the sputtering method of production leads Tosoh to believe that it can establish a new target materials business line and expand its market share in growth sectors. Tosoh, moreover, sees its shift to the sputtering method as yet a further contribution to reducing costs and conserving energy in semiconductor production.